A decomposing body discovered near the town of La Primavera, northwestern Mexico. One hand held a piece of card bearing the message: “Look what happens to a rat like me.” Areas of northern Mexico are racked by violence, involving turf wars between powerful drug cartels vying for control of trafficking routes. The death toll for 2010 was 15,237, the heaviest yet. For generations, Mexico has been a producer of, and transit route for, drugs. Powerful drug cartels have developed strong financial bases, and in some regions exert almost autonomous control, creating ‘zones of impunity’ for their activities.

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Fernando Brito was born in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, and studied marketing at the Universidad de Occidente Culiacán. Since 2004, he has been photography editor of the newspaper El Debate de Culiacán. Among his honors are acknowledgments at the 12th Biennial of Visual Arts Northwest in 2009, and the Biennial of the Image Center in 2010. Brito was selected for the Mexican Expo Foto Periodismo in 2010 and 2011.